Cornish cross dilemma :(

[Evanloveschickens]

Hello
I’m new to this site and new to raising chickens.
So my question is what should I feed my Cornish cross if I am not raising them for meat. TSC sold us 6 Cornish cross in a bin marked bantams. My sweet husband bought them without me and even though I had no idea what a Cornish cross was - I knew that they were not bantams. I discovered what breed they were at 11 days
old
We are super attached to them - they are so sweet And I’ve heard different ways to limit food to keep them healthy. They are 11 weeks old. They free range and forage every day. But I’m just not sure what to feed them? My local feed store has suggested just feeding them 3 way scratch and letting them forage. I don’t want to harm them but I also don’t want them to grow so big it kills them. Very sad situation.
Thank you so much for any suggestions
Jackie

Make sure to limit their food, and feed them very low protein food. They can and will survive with the right care, contrary to what the belief is. I have mine on pasture for 10 weeks I think it’s been already, nothing wrong with them. I feed mine a giant McDonald’s cup with low protein crumble 3 times I day. I have 10. I got mine as an impulse buy also from TSC for $1!

 

[NatJ]

They are 11 weeks old. They free range and forage every day. But I’m just not sure what to feed them?

Maybe let them forage all day, and offer a typical grower feed right before bedtime. You could give it for a certain amount of time, or measure an amount each day. (How much to measure? Try 1/2 cup per bird and see how full their crops are. You probably want them to go to bed with moderately-full crops. Then weigh/evaluate once a week or so, and adjust the amount of feed as needed.)

Foraging during the day will certainly give them exercise, and giving the purchased feed only in the evening assures that they will forage during the day because they're hungry. Unfortunately, they may have to be hungry a lot of the time if they're going to live very long.

I recognize this might not work for you, but if they were mine, I would probably just butcher them. Every chicken dies eventually, and at least if you do it, you can make it quick and painless (vs. sickness, injury, or predator attack, which are the other main ways backyard chickens die). And after they are dead, THEY don't care whether you eat the meat!

 

[Jennc-123]

We bought some intentionally and I switched them to grower early because I didn't want heart attacks in the extreme heat. They are definitely growing slower than previous broilers. People do keep them, the main reason they don't is the hens will crush eggs

 

[gtaus]

Sorry to hear about the mix up. I raised 50 Cornish Cross birds one summer and harvested them around 8 weeks old. I did not really enjoy butchering the birds, but it was time for them because I don't think they could have lived much longer due to the massive amount of weight they had put on.

Chickens don't live very long in any case. I can understand getting attached to your birds, and maybe with limited feed and lots of exercise, they will be able to live a number of years. If you enjoy raising chickens, I would suggest buying some chicks of egg laying breeds. That way, when your meat chickens reach their end of life, you will still have other birds to tend and care for. I enjoy my egg laying hens for lots of things, and getting fresh eggs is just a bonus for me.

 

[Jennc-123]

Sorry to hear about the mix up. I raised 50 Cornish Cross birds one summer and harvested them around 8 weeks old. I did not really enjoy butchering the birds, but it was time for them because I don't think they could have lived much longer due to the massive amount of weight they had put on.

Chickens don't live very long in any case. I can understand getting attached to your birds, and maybe with limited feed and lots of exercise, they will be able to live a number of years. If you enjoy raising chickens, I would suggest buying some chicks of egg laying breeds. That way, when your meat chickens reach their end of life, you will still have other birds to tend and care for. I enjoy my egg laying hens for lots of things, and getting fresh eggs is just a bonus for me.

They are the Frankenstein's monster of chickens. I wouldn't have any if it wasn't for my husband wanting them